


Jolene

by ishafel



Category: Jolene (Song) - Dolly Parton
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:07:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishafel/pseuds/ishafel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really, it's her own fault, but that doesn't make it any easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jolene

**Author's Note:**

  * For [impertinence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/impertinence/gifts).



Her first time with Jolene is her first time with a girl, her first time with anyone besides Kevin-- if you don't count the five minutes in the back of Rob Sullivan's 4-Runner when they were sophomores in high school, which Mindy doesn't. And it's not even like Kev is bad in bed, because he isn't. She almost always comes, and also she _likes_ Kevin, could imagine spending the rest of her life with him.

But Jolene--.

Jolene is something else, Jolene is amazing. Jolene bites her breast with sharp, white teeth, hard enough that it really hurts. Jolene licks her way down Mindy's stomach, pushes her fingers into Mindy with no gentleness and no preliminaries at all. Jolene isn't careful or tender or even really interested in what Mindy's feeling, and Mindy comes and comes and comes.

But then, she couldn't really imagine spending the rest of her life with Jolene; Jolene is funny and bitchy and completely certifiable and two days of her drama every few months goes an awfully long way.

When Kevin asks her to marry him, Mindy says yes, and she doesn't even feel guilty about it. If she thinks about Jolene at all, it's in the context of bridesmaids' dresses and bachelorette parties. Jolene won't wear pink, and she will know where the best bars with the hottest strippers are. Kevin is a cute house in a nice suburb and a Subaru wagon and a Golden Retriever and the same diamond ring as half of Mindy's sorority sisters, purchased from the same chain store, even. 

Jolene is running barefoot through a thunderstorm. In a street full of landmines. Jolene is a trainwreck, a high-speed car crash, a tornado. You don't marry women like Jolene, and if you do you probably end up in a morgue or in prison.

So that's why it's a surprise, when she tells Jolene that she wants to be friends, when she shows off her classic diamond set in platinum and jokes about puffy sleeves and ruffles-- that's why she doesn't understand why Jolene's perfect, beautiful face crumples and Jolene's green cat eyes fill with tears.

“But you knew,” she says stupidly, “you always knew we weren't--.” Weren't serious, she could say, weren't going anywhere, weren't ever going to be forever. Because you don't marry women like Jolene, but you don't break their hearts, either, not if you're plain old Mindy Krupnik, with a boring job selling insurance and a standing Thursday night date with popcorn and _Grey's Anatomy_.

“I guess I never thought that was something you wanted,” she says instead. “Oh, Jolene--.” And she reaches over to take Jolene's hand, to touch her shoulder, maybe hug her, because after all they're still friends. They've been friends since Mindy moved to Philadelphia after college and Jolene borrowed three dollars in quarters from her for the washing machine and never paid her back.

Except somehow after that they end up in bed together, again. Jolene is all pale, soft curves, her hair like flames down her back as she straddles Mindy's thigh, and God she's warm and wet and fiercer than ever, no trace of tears on her flawless skin now that she has what she wants. When she goes down on Mindy and her teeth close around Mindy's clit, it's like being torn apart.

It doesn't change anything. “I can't do this again,” Mindy whispers afterward, a long time afterward, when she can breathe again. When she can think again. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But I love Kevin, and I'm marrying him.”

And Jolene looks over her shoulder from where she's standing at the mirror, smudging on black eyeliner and mascara as dark as an Egyptian princess's kohl, so that her eyes look even greener against the ivory of her skin. “You hurt my feelings, Mindy. But I know you didn't mean to.” 

When she goes, in a swirl of auburn and a wiggle of her hips, Mindy stares after her and wonders what happened. This is how almost every night she's ever spent with Jolene has ended, although there's a little more throbbing in certain places than usual.

The next night she comes home from work a little late and Kevin and Jolene are sitting on stools at the counter in the kitchen, their heads together and open bottles of beer in front of them. “Baby,” Kev says, getting up to hand her a beer, “guess who stopped by to congratulate us on our engagement,” like she might not have realized that the hottest woman in Pennsylvania is sitting on a stool eating shrimp chips straight from the package. Next to the dumb, sweet love of Mindy's life.

“Mindy,” Jolene squeals, and she sounds just like Mindy's college roommate Allie, down to the horrifying New Jersey accent. “Girl, I am so excited for you! Let me see your ring, can I try it on?” And she's being so ridiculous, so over the top, that Mindy has to smile. Even though she can't help thinking about the way Jolene's hip was almost touching Kevin's when she came in, even though she can't help seeing the way Kev smiles at Jolene's excitement.

If he knew her he'd be terrified, because blitzkrieg is the word most often used to describe Jolene's offensives. But he doesn't know her, because Mindy's always done her best to keep the two of them apart. It has always seemed safer that way, cleaner.

Now she wants to tell Kevin all about the three times Jolene's been arrested for arson, the way she starts fights in bars, the car doors she's keyed and the windows she's broken. Kevin doesn't even look at her. Kevin is looking at Jolene, at the shining fall of her red hair, the quickness of her smile, the roundness of her high breasts under her thin dark shirt. Mindy takes a sip of beer and looks, too. That white skin is softer than velvet, smoother than silk--.

She wants Jolene desperately, but it's like wanting a fire, or a tidal wave. And she watches Kevin with her, and she knows why Jolene went quietly last night. She can see the triumph in Jolene's eyes. She has lost Jolene, and she is losing Kevin, and there is no way she can stop it.


End file.
